Fresh from a stint at the Harold Pinter Theatre as part of its “richly deserved West End glow-up” (Time Out) Sam Steiner’s darkly humourous yet borderline dystopian romantic comedy leaves the capital for a trip to the coast and a stint at Theatre Royal Brighton. We caught up with the show’s playwright and director to talk of the play’s continual (and potentially increased) relevance since its first run as well as what audiences can expect from a production that has so much and yet seemingly so little to say…
“Writing Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons taught me how to be a playwright,” claims Steiner who has since gone on to work with HighTide Festival and Theatre Royal Plymouth. Heralded as a witty and tender personal-meets-political love story, the plot follows…
…
Sorry for the interruption, but in the world of Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons, I would have had to stop the article there. Perhaps to recommence the following day and maybe (just maybe!), if I was frugal and diligent, I could have this preview finished by the end of the week.
Fortunately we do not live in that world… Yet (?)
Allow me to start again and explain why.
Heralded as a witty and tender personal-meets-political love story, the plot follows the enrolment across the nation of a “hush law” in which all persons are limited to 140 words per day (a reference towards the then character limit of a tweet). Lawyer Bernadette and musician Oliver must come to terms with a changing political landscape seemingly committed to impinging on personal freedoms whilst also navigating the impacts those infringements may have upon their own relationship.
The play, first produced at Warwick Arts Centre in 2015, exploded onto the scene with a run at the Edinburgh Fringe in the same year with Beth Holmes and Euan Kitson in the lead roles. Now TV heavyweights and “luminous screen stars” (Evening Standard) Jenna Coleman (Doctor Who, The Serpent) and Aidan Turner (Poldark, Being Human) take on the central couple as a truly “charismatic double act” (London Theatre).
The play’s author is certainly elated with the show’s return on a much larger scale. “The opportunity to revisit and grow the play all these years later and bring it to a larger audience with [director] Josie, Aidan, Jenna and an alarmingly inspiring creative team is thrilling and confounding in equal measure.”
And arguably the topics covered in the play have only become more relevant over the years. Since its opening run we have lived through Brexit, the Trump years, a pandemic, a recession and a society beset with culture wars amidst a cost of living crisis. As I write, the public awaits a final decision from the BBC following their negotiations with Gary Lineker concerning his political views shared on a private Twitter account.
“I feel we are in a moment where – however indirectly – theatre might help us digest how we lived and changed through the extremes of the past few years,” says Josie Rourke, the show’s director, known for productions of Much Ado About Nothing (starring David Tennant and Catherine Tate) and The Recruiting Officer as well as the film Mary Queen Of Scots with Saoirse Ronan and Margot Robbie. “Sam’s play finds the humanity in how people and couples work through extreme situations. There is the potential for great joy, fun, reflection and healing in that.”
The play enjoyed a warm reception in the West End so we can can only imagine the biting intrigue this rich and lauded text has at its fingertips with conclusions drawn close to the proverbial knuckle. The play certainly promises to pose some interesting questions for debate over interval drinks and beyond the final curtain. How can love (or life for that matter) flourish and thrive where there is a rationing of speech? Can optimism and hope last under a government that enforces a word count of 140? What are you really to do when life gives you…
Never mind.
Theatre Royal Brighton, Tuesday 28th March – Saturday 1st April 2023
For tickets and further information click here
Photo by Johan Persson
